The best part of renting a car is the moment of relief that comes over you when you leave the keys with the rental car employee, having agreed that everything is good, and you’re finally free. That is, unless the rental car company reaches out a few days later saying you owe almost $10,000 for damage that wasn’t there when you returned it. One Canadian couple is now plagued with fighting Enterprise rental company over the nightmare bill for almost a year.
Kelly and Katherine Graves had been home a week from a trip around the Edmonton, Alberta area, when they received an unexpected email from Enterprise. The company informed them them that they had put diesel fuel in their vacation rental car and now owed the company $9,500. The couple told CBC that Enterprise explained further that the car they had rented would no longer start and diesel fuel had allegedly been found in the engine. They were given the options to file an insurance claim, or pay the bill.
Refusing to do either, the couple remained adamant they hadn’t fueled the car with diesel fuel. And they had the receipts and photos that backed their claim.
They’ve got the actual receipts
As it happens, the 2025 Dodge Durango the Graves’ rented for their trip is designed to avoid problems like this. Many newer vehicles are designed with filler necks that are opened to the width of the fuel nozzle they require. A regular fuel nozzle can fit into a vehicle’s filler neck that requires regular fuel, whereas a diesel nozzle measures a bit wider and would not. The Durango required regular gasoline complete with the regular filler neck. They couldn’t mess it up.
On the return trip the Edmonton International Airport, the two made a stop to fill up at a gas station. They were forced to make two separate fuel transactions because the pump cut off prematurely. Not only had they kept the receipts (as one might want to do when on a trip), but they also had taken a picture of the exact pump they had used.
The images shared on CBC’s site show the receipts of those two fills, revealing the couple had put purchased just over 48 liters of regular gasoline. The image of the pump also only shows one fuel nozzle, with your typical regular, mid-grade, and premium fuel choices. Diesel isn’t even dispensed at that particular pump.
They would have found out they put diesel in the car
As we’ve reported before, if someone, like the Graves, had put diesel in a regular fuel tank, things likely would have gone sideways pretty quickly after starting the car. Although, it can depend on how much regular fuel remained in the tank. Diesel is a more viscous fluid compared to gasoline, which an engine requiring regular gasoline is not tuned to handle. On a fairly empty tank filled with diesel, the engine could start, and if it does, problems will become more apparent like rough running or misfires as the thick fuel clogs injectors, filters, fuel lines, pumps and other essential components that keep things fired and moving.
The airport was only 30 miles (53 kilometers) from the couples’ fuel stop. The Durango made the reasonable distance without a hiccup. In fact, Kelly Graves said that the engine ran rather smooth. They returned the SUV to the National Car Rental (owned by Enterprise), where it, too, was processed with no issues. And everything was quiet until that fateful day.
It’s all serious billing until someone holds you accountable
Enterprise contacted the Graves two additional times, one about five days after the initial surprise email, where the couple again insisted they had not put diesel fuel into the tank. At first, they believed the rental car company had taken their denial serious as all was quiet. Nine months later though, they received an actual bill for $9,500.
From there, the couple tagged in some official representation to help in their fight, complete with their own trove of documents they had collected supporting the denial of their allegations. When people started asking questions (i.e. lawyers), as well as Go Public (part of the CBC), the rental car giant suddenly decided they were no longer pursuing the claim.
In a statement Enterprise sent to the CBC regarding dropping the claim, the company reasoned it was “unable to verify additional details regarding the fuel source,” which is interesting, because wouldn’t you need to know that prior to pursuing action against the renters from the start? You would think. It seems the Graves actually had more
The couple now freed from the $9,500 metaphorical axe that was hanging over their head, can breathe a sigh of relief, and offer their experience to help future car renters avoid the same long and arduous nightmare. With that in mind, maybe keep your receipts, and like them, maybe also look into using a different rental company on your next vacation.
